Recent Entries from Yosuke KitazawaMovable Type Pro 4.382015-01-30T14:00:28Zhttp://www.kcet.org/user/profile/cmiller/feed/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=feed&_type=posts&username=Yosuke%20KitazawaAtomic Cafe and the Old Brick Building in Little Tokyotag:www.kcet.org,2015:/socal/departures//25.798882015-01-30T22:00:28Z2015-01-31T01:45:26ZInside the old brick building was a place where the misfits and weirdos could rub shoulders with the locals and the businessmen, sometimes even with the Yakuza.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924
When news spread about the demolition of the old brick building at First and Alameda Streets in Little Tokyo, it was a sign that the city had committed itself to the future. The century-old building will be replaced by a new Metro subway stop, slated to become a major transportation hub that will transform the way we travel through downtown. This may be good news from an urbanist perspective -- but what about the history? Should we be paving over a precious link to the past in the name of progress?

Last February a large crowd gathered inside the building (now a branch of local chain Senor Fish) to honor its legacy. Much of the conversation centered around the Atomic Cafe, which occupied the building for almost three decades and best known as an after-hours hangout for the local punks and weirdos in the '80s. Organized by the Little Tokyo Service Center, this event was kind of a last hurrah for Nancy Sekizawa, a.k.a. Atomic Nancy, the "kabuki kind of punk girl" who presided over the circus-like vibe of the cafe during its heyday, jumping across tables in rollerskates and slinging bowls of noodles to the rowdy customers in red naugahyde booths. This evening she took center stage in that same room for the very last time, as the featured DJ, spinning those dusty old 45s from the famous Atomic jukebox.

Months later when asked about the event and the impending demolition of the building, Sekizawa seemed relieved. "I don't give a shit," she said, perhaps showing a bit of stubborn defiance left over from her punk past. "I'm gonna be honest, it was so creepy playing in there and spinning those records."

But Sekizawa clearly does care about the Atomic Cafe and its legacy, which she proudly carries on by sometimes resurrecting the Atomic Nancy persona as a DJ. Perhaps she just doesn't need any physical monument to her memories -- "I don't believe in illusions 'cos too much is real," as her favorite singer John Lydon once sang -- since she experienced it all firsthand.

Nuclear Family

Minoru Matoba and his wife Ito both hailed from the northern states -- Minoru from Whitefish, Montana, Ito from Kemmerer, Wyoming. While Ito's parents ran a diner in Kemmerer catering to the local miners, she and her 13 siblings were sent back to Japan as kibeis -- American-born but educated in Japan -- and came back to America not long before WWII broke out. By the time the war ended, the Matobas had met, married, and settled in Los Angeles, where they opened the Atomic Cafe in Little Tokyo in 1946, with memories of the bomb and nuclear fears fresh in people's minds.

The post-war years in Little Tokyo was a time of recovery. After Executive Order 9066 forced Japanese Americans out of their homes and businesses, the neighborhood soon became known as Bronzeville, as newly arrived African Americans began occupying the empty apartments and storefronts. Some of these spaces became jazz and r&b clubs that attracted a racially mixed clientele -- a rarity in those days when de facto segregation was rampant. It was a similar spirit of inclusiveness that spilled into the Atomic Cafe in its early years, as seen in photos taken at its original location.

In fact, this kind of integrated cafe culture was nothing new to Little Tokyo. The first Japanese-owned business in Los Angeles was a restaurant opened in 1884 on East First Street -- not too far from where Atomic would be -- which served not Japanese food but hearty American fare, like meat and potatoes and soup. The patrons were decidedly mixed and working class, perhaps on their lunch break from working on the railroads at the nearby Santa Fe Depot. This kind of menu was the norm at many other Japanese-owned eateries of its day, like Quaker Dairy with a large African American clientele, and Sunrise Diner serving 15 cent chicken dinners.

At the Atomic Cafe, the menu consisted of "Japanese Chinese American" food. "Hamburgers, foo young, chop suey -- sort of like the old '60s type of food," as Sekizawa remembers. "We were known for our chashu ramen -- that was probably the only thing that was really good. Everything else was like, you know, I would eat when I can. It was alright for me -- I'm glad we're not on Yelp."

The Best Noodles and Jukebox in Town

The cafe moved to the old brick building at First and Alameda in 1961, which became its home until the end. Sekizawa practically grew up and lived at the Atomic Cafe during that time, and saw the neighborhood gradually change around her. "When I was a little girl I just knew that it was a community," she says. "If you had a flower shop we'd go and buy flowers for different occasions, and in turn you would come over eat at our place, bring your family over. So it was very community based ... And then during the '70s, I'd say the mid-70s, the cars -- the Hondas, Mitsubishi, you name it, Toyota -- they started coming over and changed the entire feeling of Little Tokyo. It was more 'Japan.' More of the businesses started coming in."

After a brief stint as a singer in a band Hiroshima (which included a quick lesson in Asian American studies and activism from her bandmates), Sekizawa reluctantly took over the cafe kitchen when her father became ill. Business during this time was not good. "I was cooking, and I didn't really like cooking," Sekizawa remembers. "I'm more of like a people's hands on kind of person."

When her father got better and resumed his role in the kitchen, Sekizawa began working the front of house. "And then I just started wearing the avant punk stuff," she remembers, "and since I entertained before, I said shoot, let me just do this, just put some punk records and put up some posters because these people like it. And I did too, and they were really cool. It was a circus, seriously."

Now the Atomic Cafe not only had "The Best Noodles in Town," but also a one-of-a-kind jukebox filled with a mix of oldies, classic rock, crooners, local private press punk, the latest Rodney Bingenheimer hits, and Japanese 45s that her father had bought from Bunkado, the longstanding Little Tokyo music store. This eclecticism was reflected in the cafe's patrons, which included not only the artists, punks, and weirdos -- The Go Go's, David Byrne, Sid Vicious -- but also local business and regular folk. Sometimes even shady Yakuza would show up.

So how did Atomic Cafe gain a reputation as an all-inclusive hangout for everyone? "Well I guess it was because it was so left field," Sekizawa says. "Punk rockers didn't have really a place to go. But we accepted them, you know, we just accepted them ... You know the bigger names like X would play at the Whiskey or the Starwood, but these guys also went to some of the local pubs and dives, and we were one of the dives."

Even for Sekizawa herself, the Atomic Cafe was where she felt the most comfortable. "Most punk rockers were misfits," she says, "and that's why I felt like -- I felt pretty good. I didn't feel like I ever blended, anywhere. Even in the Asian American scene, I just felt -- this was just too hard for me. But these guys were artists, and ADHD, you know schizophrenic, I didn't care ... It was a home for the ones that didn't feel like they ever had a home."

The Circus Leaves Town

The circus had to leave town someday, and so the Atomic Cafe came to a close on Thanksgiving Day, 1989. Sekizawa felt relieved, but bittersweet. "There was so much heartache that happened just to keep it going, that whole thing going," she remembers. "When it was done I was going yeah! It was over! It's fine!"

Around the old brick building at First and Alameda, where once stood other old brick lowrises that defined the neighborhood, were now empty dirt and parking lots, bulldozed in the name of redevelopment. The punks and weirdos had grown up or moved on, and Little Tokyo was changing. Sean Carrillo, who with Bibbe Hansen (Beck's mom) opened the influential Troy Cafe in the old brick building after Atomic closed, wrote this eulogy in the wake of the announcement of the demolition:

On the outskirts of the civic center of Los Angeles, and much closer to the ragged edge of the city, the burgeoning art scene co-existed with the punks in this nether world of bohemians, tramps, junkies, mobsters and world class artists.

If it could all be boiled down to one place, one nexus, one geographical location that served as ground zero where all these disparate groups met, where there was no animosity, no cultural arrogance, and certainly no exclusionary practices it was surely the iconic and legendary Atomic Café.

When asked if there could be another place like the Atomic Cafe today, Sekizawa didn't think so. "We did everything against all the codes, citations, we broke them then, and there would be such severe consequences today. That's why I don't think it'll happen. But I don't know. Who knows."

Pieces of the building are planned to become part of a memorial for itself to be incorporated into the new subway station. Perhaps the new train line will be another way to bring together the misfits, the locals, and maybe even the Yakuza, at the corner of First and Alameda, the same way the Atomic Cafe did; we can only hope.

Special thanks to Nancy Sekizawa and Remy de la Peza for their invaluable help.

Photos courtesy of Remy de la Peza/Little Tokyo Service Center.

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CicLAvia Comes to the San Fernando Valleytag:www.kcet.org,2015:/socal/departures/columns//1488.796682015-01-15T18:57:12Z2015-01-15T22:42:07ZThe 5.5 mile route will stretch from North Hollywood to Studio City, and will provide easy access to attractions along the L.A. River. Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=2924
Bicyclists and walkers in the San Fernando Valley will have a chance to take over the streets this March when CicLAvia makes a jump over the hills for the first time since the open streets event began in 2010.

Stretching down Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood to Universal City, then along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the route for CicLAvia: The Valley covers 5.5 miles, running through the North Hollywood Arts District, Campo de Cahuenga, the Studio City Farmers Market, and the historic Sportsmen's Lodge.

"As someone born and raised in the Valley, and as Metro Chair, I'm especially proud that Metro is sponsoring the very first Valley CicLAvia to give Angelenos a chance to enjoy a new open space and explore our neighborhoods from a new perspective," said Mayor Eric Garcetti in a press release.

Fittingly, you won't need a car to get to the event as the route along Lankershim Boulevard will have a direct connection to the North Hollywood Metro Red/Orange Line stop, as well as the popular Chandler Bike Path, which extends all the way to Mariposa Street in Burbank. Participants will also get a chance to enjoy the new NoHo Plaza, a new public plaza that will be constructed as part of L.A. Department of Transportation's People Street program.

Aaron Paley, CicLAvia's co-founder and Executive Director and a proud Valley native, said that this by no means will be the only CicLAvia in the Valley. "We plan on making our spring slot an annual exploration of different parts of the great San Fernando Valley," he said in a press release.

CicLAvia: The Valley will be one of four open streets events planned for this year, other locations being Pasadena on May 31, Culver City/Venice on August 9, and Heart of L.A. in October.

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The Rise and Fall of Henry "Don Enrique" Dalton, the British Ranchero of the San Gabriel Valleytag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures//25.670922013-11-25T22:45:59Z2015-06-30T16:42:35ZThe British-born merchant married the "Most Beautiful Girl in Los Angeles," and owned much of the land that formed the foothills of the San Gabriels. But his good fortune and wealth had all but vanished by the end of his life.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924

When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, a large chunk of what is now part of the United States became part of the newly sovereign nation. Alta California, which included areas of present day California and Arizona, and portions of Nevada and Utah, was now Mexican territory -- not yet considered a state due to its small population.

By this time the Mission system, established decades prior by Spanish settlers, was slowly unraveling. The indigenous population, forced to live on Mission grounds, suffered from European diseases, resulting in the catastrophic decline of its population, from around 65,000 in 1770, to only 17,000 by 1830.

As described by explorer and tradesman Richard Henry Dana in his classic "Two Years Before The Mast," published in 1840, Alta California at this time, under Mexican rule, was brimming with trade through its ports all along the coast. One of the most important trade cities in the world that shipped to these flourishing ports was the Peruvian port of Callao, where a London-born business man named Henry Dalton was beginning to make his mark in the world. Using capital he had earned from gambling, he quickly set up his own trading company -- Enrique Dalton & Co. -- co-opting a more familiar name (to locals) that would stick with the young Englishman for the rest of his life.

After two decades of trade based in Peru, Dalton had had enough. With his fortunes in flux, and health declining, he began to think of ways to expand his business, while starting life anew. While Dalton may have familiarized himself with the Californias from his trade routes along the west coast of the Americas, it was perhaps the work of Alexander Forbes, a Scotch merchant based in Tepic, Mexico who published the first English-language book on California, "California: A History of Upper and Lower California," in 1839, that opened up his mind to the still-untapped resources of the soon-to-be Golden State.

Journey to the West

Dalton arrived in Los Angeles in 1843, as he guided the Mexican brig "Soledad," from Mazatlan to San Pedro. Seeing the potential for hides, tallow, and land, not to mention the growing gold fever in the San Gabriel Mountains, Dalton decided to start a new life in the still nascent city, its population still in the low thousands.

The first of Dalton's many land purchases was made as soon as he landed ashore. A plot of land bordered by Main, Spring, and Court Streets, in what is now downtown L.A., was sold to Dalton by Rafael Guirado, father-in-law of future-governor John G. Downey. There he built an adobe retail store, where he sold the merchandise arriving for him in San Pedro (and later, products from his ranchos), often in exchange for goods supplied by local rancheros. As one of the main retailers in the Pueblo, he became acquainted with many of the prominent figures of early Los Angeles, such as John Temple, Luis Vignes, Pio Pico, and Luis Arenas. Dalton would continue to manage this store until 1860.

On the same lot, he built one of the first wooden residences in the Pueblo, described by C.C. Baker, author of "Don Enrique Dalton of the Azusa," as "one and a half stories high ... one of the pretentious buildings of the town." Later he would build the first two-story brick residence in the Pueblo, on the site where St. Vibiana's Catheral was eventually built, and still stands today.

Into the Valley

In August, 1844, a new California law forbade the sale of any land by an individual, which put a heavy damper on Dalton's desire to expand his land holdings. But, as luck would have it, the growing political unrest within California proved to be beneficial for Dalton, who, after an unexpected turn of events, was able to circumvent the rules to continue his ascent of his empire.

When unpopular Governor Micheltorena was warned of a planned rebellion led by former Governors Jose Castro and Juan Bautista Alvarado in a power struggle between the Mexican government and the Californios, he initially conceded by signing the Treaty of Santa Teresa, in which he agreed to send his unruly troops back to Mexico. Micheltorena, however, was not ready to give up just yet. In an effort to retaliate against the rebellion, Micheltorena enlisted the help of Pio Pico and Jose Carillo to build up a force of his own; there was one problem, however: there was no money to spend on such a force.

With a bit of bending of their own rules, they came up with a solution. They were owed $1,000 by Luis Arenas, a ranchero who owned a large swath of land surrounding the San Gabriel River. The only way he could pay back the large sum was to sell his land -- which the August 1844 law prevented him from doing. So Micheltorena quickly granted special authorization to Pico and Carillo to allow the sale of Arenas' land, stating that it was "the only means we depend upon in order to equip the number of men now ready to enlist under the aforesaid chief."

The buyer of Arenas' land was none other than Henry Dalton, who bought himself a quite large gift on Christmas Eve, 1844: one-third of Rancho San Jose, which included present day Claremont, Pomona, Laverne, and San Dimas; and all of Rancho El Susa, now named Rancho Azusa de Dalton, its named derived from the Asuksa-nga, the indigenous people that previously occupied the land. The purchase of the ranch, which covered present day Azusa, Arcadia, Monrovia, Irwindale, and Baldwin Park, included "cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, and other animals worth $3000, vineyard with 7000 growing vines worth $1500; plus an irrigation dam on the Azusa River, a ditch to the vineyard, and an abundance of water except in late summer of dry years," as recounted in "The Life and Times of Henry Dalton and the Rancho Azusa" by Sheldon Jackson.

The following year, Dalton acquired Rancho San Francisquito in a Mexican land grant given by Governor Pio Pico. This included present day cities of El Monte, Irwindale, and Temple City. In 1847, Dalton purchased Rancho Santa Anita from Scottish-born, Mexican citizen Hugo Reid, adding 13,300 acres to his rapidly expanding land portfolio. This ranch included all or portions of present day cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and San Marino.

Within three years of his arrival in Los Angeles, Dalton became one of the biggest landowners in the city, with almost the entire foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in his hands.

"The Most Beautiful Girl in Los Angeles"

By 1847 the Mexican American war had entered its second year, and Dalton had already lost $6160 worth of goods to American troops at the harbor in San Pedro. The Californios by this time had become exhausted and in desperate need for supplies; Dalton showed his support for the Californios by providing more than $30,000 worth of supplies and cash -- which the Mexican government promised to return with 100% interest.

Some questioned why Dalton gave up so much to the Californios' cause, since it seemed unlikely that he would be paid back by the losing Mexican government. But for others, it was simple: he had fallen for a woman, who happened to be the sister-in-law of Jose Maria Flores, an officer in the Mexican army who commandeered the Californios. Maria Guadalupe Zamorano was one of the many Californian beauties wooed at the time by the over-eager Anglo bachelors. At the first Independence Day celebration in the city of Los Angeles, held July 1847, young Guadalupe was awarded the a prize for being the top beauty at the ball. The prize was presented by visiting New York Volunteers officer John M. Hollingsworth, a "connoisseur of women" who had a thing for California girls; he wrote in his diary about an encounter at a party: "Saw a beautiful Spanish girl there, gave her a bouquet, and murdered Spanish at her at a great rate."

Dalton, a grizzled but wealthy 43 year old, somehow won the heart of 14 year-old Guadalupe, who at the time was considered "the most beautiful girl in Los Angeles." Dalton was baptized at Mission San Gabriel in order to be allowed to marry the Californian girl.

Meanwhile the ravaging war carried on, and continued to drain Dalton's wealth. After the Americans captured Los Angeles, their troops broke into Dalton's town home and ransacked his wine cellar, cut down his fence for firewood, and smashed his dinnerware. Further, his declining fortune was accelerated by his lavish spending toward his new wife: his account book recorded his purchases of "July 31, 1847, $500, sundry expenses in marriage; November 30, 1847, $626, silks, fine clothing, etc."

In the end, after America's victory over the Californios, Dalton failed to collect a single dollar for his losses and investment from the Mexican government.

Squatter's Rights

While the war devastated his fortunes, Dalton still had his land holdings, and was now determined to make it as a ranchero. But what he thought to be an asset at his Rancho -- a water system that Luis Arenas had begun to build -- would eventually lead to the loss of much of his wealth.

Arenas had constructed an irrigation system that carried water down to the Rancho from the San Gabriel Mountains via the Azusa River (San Gabriel River). Dalton, soon after acquiring the property, doubled the capacity of the irrigation ditch, to 1,800 gallons a minute. In 1854, he built a flour mill that was run by the force of the water flowing through the ditch -- this is believed to be the earliest water power development in Southern California.

Using the mill as a selling point, Dalton attempted to subdivide underutilized parts of the Rancho. He devised an unusual ownership arrangement that offered shares in place of actual land, with a raffle that promised prizes such as the "most magnificent private dwellings in southern California," and one of the many vineyards that he owned. Included in the campaign was a plan for Benton City, which would have contained "some of the richest and most fertile lands in the world." Out of 84,000 shares made available, only 166 were sold. The campaign was ended abruptly.

Meanwhile, Dalton and other rancheros struggled to keep squatters off of their land. Henry Hancock's survey of the Rancho Azusa in 1858 (as required by the new American government) was seen by Dalton as erroneous, as he felt that it cheated him out of thousands of acres. Squatters used this survey to justify being on parts of the Ranch that they believed to be "government land." The availability of water only exasperated things, attracting groups of unauthorized dwellers that often dug their own ditches to divert the water away from the Azusa River to their own rogue settlements. The struggle continued for years, even after Dalton's attempts to make peace with the squatters. Dalton recorded in his ranch diary in 1870 an encounter with a squatter whom he believed was stealing his water:

I told him that I would break the hand that touched it; he did it and I struck his hand as hard as I could (with a walking stick). He then pushed me into the zanja and drew his pistol to fire upon me. Marcos (Dalton's ranch hand) came up and drew a pistol and ordered him to put up his pistol or he would fire upon him; he finally put up his pistol and after some words withdrew.

As the number of squatters increased, so did their political powers. By the 1870s, local districts, including the courts, were controlled by the squatters, who formed their own water district and planned to build a new irrigation system on Dalton's land. Despite Dalton's appeals to the State Supreme Court, with no support from the local government, he had no choice but to give up the fight for his land and water -- and with it went his dreams of becoming a wealthy California ranchero.

In 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad arrived to Los Angeles. This led to a spectacular land boom that ballooned the city's population, from 11,000 in 1880 to 50,000 by 1890. Dalton had died in 1884, just a few years too soon. His beloved Rancho Azusa would soon become the City of Azusa, a bustling foothill city that served as the gateway to the increasing recreational opportunities offered by the San Gabriel Mountains, where his legacy remains in the form of a popular hiking trail, Big Dalton Canyon.

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Leimert Theater: Envisioning a Neighborhood Landmarktag:www.kcet.org,2012:/socal/departures//25.649822013-10-17T23:00:27Z2014-09-05T18:42:25ZThe Vision Theater, located in Leimert Park, is one of the most overlooked of Los Angeles' classic theaters. Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924
As the self-proclaimed Entertainment Capital of the World, Los Angeles has its fair share of classic movie theaters, many of which were constructed in the early days of what's considered the Golden Age of Hollywood. From the grand palatial theaters that line Hollywood Boulevard and Broadway, to the smaller but no less opulent theaters like the Vista Theater in Los Feliz and the Crest Theater in Westwood, these structures were a testament to the power and influence the movies had on our city. Unfortunately, many have fallen into disrepair, with hundreds of theaters having been demolished throughout the city's history. Many that remain are either no longer used as a theater, or closed off and inaccessible to the public, hiding the often spectacular interior work found inside.

The Vision Theater, located in Leimert Park, is one of the most overlooked of Los Angeles' classic theaters. Built in 1931 as the Leimert Theater, the intricately detailed structure and its eye-catching 115-foot spire was designed to be the anchor of the neighborhood, as envisioned by the lofty mind of developer Walter H. Leimert.

In accordance with Walter H. Leimert's vision for his neighborhood development, the Leimert Park Business Center opened in November, 1928. In a series of ads designed to lure potential buyers to his subdivision, he promised a "convenient, well-designed business center and plaza" that he proudly predicted would become "the THIRD greatest shopping sub-center of Los Angeles," after Hollywood Boulevard and Wilshire at La Brea.

Early sketches and plans for the Business Center reveal that the corner of Leimert Park Place and Degnan Boulevard had been earmarked for a theater from the start. An ad from the L.A. Times, November 17, 1928, touting that "all eyes are on the Leimert Business Center," includes a small map that notes the structures to be built in the area, indicating that the corner site is "reserved for Theatre."

A hand drawn rendering of the subdivision, displayed at the sales office during the initial phase of sales in 1928, again shows that the same corner had been planned as the site of a theater. At this time they had envisioned, in keeping with the styles of the residential homes, a Spanish Mission-style theater, with a tiled roof and what seems like a bell tower. While the Mesa Vernon Market is drawn mostly in keeping with what was actually built (perhaps the designs were already finalized by then), what's drawn next door is what is notable: a never-built six-story commercial structure at the northwest corner of Leimert Place and Degnan Boulevard. Along with many other unbuilt structures envisioned in the relief map, perhaps its non-appearance was due to the catastrophic events of the following year.

By the time of the stock market crash in October of 1929, Leimert Park had been open for over two years. Walter H. Leimert Co. tirelessly campaigned to sell the lots in the subdivision, with an endless amount of ads placed in newspapers. This blitz campaign continued, but now with a shifted focus -- weeks after the crash, an ad for the subdivision claimed:

With the crash in Wall Street, realty investments have jumped to the front and close-in property has led the way. Never has LEIMERT PARK seen so many buildings and lots change hands for CASH as in the past few weeks ... If you want to see some real ACTION and today's best opportunity for the shrewd and careful INVESTOR, come to LEIMERT PARK ... right now!

Whether or not Walter H. Leimert was merely boasting and propagandizing, the fact of the matter was that at this time the promised "greatest future sub-centers of Los Angeles" was still largely unbuilt. Aside from the multi-purpose Mesa Vernon Market, which had opened in November of 1928, as "the finest drive-in market ever built...completely leased and every tenant ready to break all sales records," much of the surrounding land stood empty. New office spaces were added adjacent to the market in 1929, though an available photo shows most of the storefronts with a "For Lease" sign.

An aerial photo from August 1930 shows a largely empty "Business Center," with its planned centerpiece theater still yet unbuilt. Perhaps the effects of the crash had put a halt to the upward development of Leimert Park, and left it without a community anchor that the theater would have provided. In fact, the theater business had taken a hit in the initial years of the Depression, contrary to some notions that the movies were immune to its effect. In "Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema" by Thomas Patrick Doherty notes that "between the happy days of the 1920s and the first years of the Great Depression, [movie] attendance plummeted from a boom high of more than 100,000,000 weekly to a Depression low of less than 40,000,000, before leveling off at around sixty million." By summer of 1930, Harold B. Franklin, then president of Fox West Coast Theaters, claimed that "Business is better. Much better. We look for continued improvement and a return to normalcy."

Meanwhile boy wonder millionaire heir and budding film producer Howard Hughes was beginning to make his mark in Hollywood. With his deep pockets, he was seemingly immune to the effects of the Depression (though in the years leading up to the crash "Hughes squandered $8 million speculating on Wall Street," 1), spending $3.8 million to produce "Hell's Angels" at the outset of the Depression in 1930. The film luckily turned out to be a blockbuster, earning more than $8 million at the box office.

It was in this shaky climate, in January, 1931, that the two Hollywood heavyweights teamed up to form the Hughes-Franklin Theater Company. With the ultimate goal to operate 200 to 300 theaters across the country, the company quickly began acquiring and building theaters with an initial investment of $5 million. In April, plans were announced for sixteen brand new theaters for its initial building phase, seven of which were in the Los Angeles area, one of which was the Leimert Theater in Leimert Park.

Construction of the Leimert Theater began in September of 1931. Designed by architects Morgan, Walls & Clemens, who had been responsible for such iconic structures as the Wiltern Theater, El Capitan Theater, and the Richfield Building, the Leimert contained elements of Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco, perhaps reflecting the era in which the romantic, lavish lifestyles of the Jazz Age were transitioning into a more modern, streamlined approach. The building was topped off with a 115-foot tower, "the first of a series of vertical signs to use sequential lighting to attract motorists to a theatre in the middle of a housing tract," according to Marquee Magazine, Volumes 1-5.

The interior contained even more eye-catching details. Inside the lobby was a mural, "Samson & Delilah," by French artist Andre Durenceau, who had studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, and was known for his intricate commissioned work for the homes of the wealthy, including Joan Crawfod and Lionel Barrymore. Ceiling details were created by Anthony Heinsbergen, a Dutch-born muralist whose work can also be seen inside Los Angeles City Hall, Biltmore Hotel, Pantages Theater, among other classic L.A. buildings. Seating plans called for "more space between rows of seats than in any other theater in the United States," according to an L.A. Times article from September 20, 1931. This added space required the sacrifice of more than 300 seats, but Harold Franklin was confident that "the added attraction the theater will have will make up for the loss in possible revenue."

In December of 1931, the L.A. Times reported that construction of the Hughes-Franklin Leimert Theater was scheduled to be completed by February. In January of 1932, Hughes-Franklin, by then one of the five largest theater corporations in the United States, announced unexpectedly in the L.A. Times that "all the theaters owned by the corporation will be sold as soon as possible." One of the first to go was the still-unfinished Leimert Theater. Along with four other theaters in the area, it was sold to Westland Theaters, whose president Dave Bershon was the former Western district manager for MGM.

The Leimert Theater officially opened as a first-run movie house in April of 1932, with a gala event hosted by Westland Theaters. Later that year Arthur Miller, then-art critic for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a glowing review of the theater:

ARITISTS SHOULD SEE THE LEIMERT THEATER on Angeles Mesa. Its construction, design and decoration, all done by Morgan, Wells and Clement, are integral. A ceiling really suspended is so treated in its decorative and lighting effects, and here is the handsomest proscenium in town. The treatment of the oval auditorium is popular, but free from rubbishy ornament. The theater's patrons find it "homey." Finally, Andre Dureneau's "Samson and Delilah" mural is an amazing work. For such figure drawing one must go clear back to Rubens.
-- Arthur Miller, Los Angeles Times, November 27, 1932.

A year later, the Walter H. Leimert Co. told the Los Angeles Times that there were no vacancies in any of the storefronts in the Leimert Park Business Center. In fact, demand for store space was so high that "$2000 is to be spent immediately for store fronts and partitions in the hitherto incompleted store section of the Leimert Theater building."

It ceased operations as a first-run theater in 1968, became known as The Watchtower when it was purchased by Jehovah's Witnesses in 1977. After an attempt by actress Marla Gibbs to turn the venue, which she renamed The Vision Theater, into a performing arts space, the City of Los Angeles purchased the buliding in 1999. Currently the theater is undergoing a slow process of renovation.

Today, as The Vision Theater undergoes a $11 million renovation, similar plans are in place to bring new businesses to the theater building and the surrounding areas. While the coming Metro Crenshaw Line and the purchase of many of the buildings make the future uncertain for many of the business owners in the area, the city-owned theater is getting ready for its close-up -- and once again become the anchor of the neighborhood that it was designed to be. Perhaps Walter H. Leimert's vision to make Leimert Park the third largest shopping district may come true.

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Walter H. Leimert and the Selling of a Perfect Planned Communitytag:www.kcet.org,2010:/socal/departures//25.645332013-09-19T18:00:40Z2014-10-21T21:36:13ZWalter H. Leimert was so confident with his new westside L.A. development that for the first time in his career, he lent his own name to the subdivision, creating the neighborhood we now know as Leimert Park.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924A segment based on this story was produced for KCET's award-winning TV show "SoCal Connected." Watch it here now.

Looking at L.A.'s many pre-WWII neighborhoods, it's easy to forget that many of them were created as pre-planned subdivisions, as manufactured as today's much-maligned suburban gated communities. We'd like to think of old charming blocks of bungalows and small businesses as having grown organically, with each new phase of development based on the notion of supply and demand, but most often than not, they have been results of careful planning.

The South L.A. neighborhood of Leimert Park is known for its modest, well-kept Spanish-style homes and eclectic businesses centered around Degnan Boulevard, which, as the Leimert Park Village, has carved out an identity over the past several decades as the center of African American arts, culture and identity. This relatively recent development can indeed be attributed to an organic growth, resulting from a variety of historical events, from WWII, the growth of suburbia, Watts uprising of 1965, or the L.A. Riots of 1992.

But the 230-acre neighborhood had its genesis as one of the first master planned communities in Los Angeles -- the vision of a shrewd, prolific developer named Walter H. Leimert.

East Bay to the Eastside

Walter H. Leimert was born in 1877 to German immigrant parents in Oakland, who had opened up a candy shop and owned several properties in the city, including a commercial building downtown now known as the Leimert Building in Old Oakland.

Soon after forming his namesake company in 1902, Walter H. Leimert began his quest to create the perfect neighborhood. By 1917, in the Oakland hills northeast of the fashionable Lake Merritt area, he had developed the Lakeshore Highlands, its plans laid out by frequent Leimert collaborators, the Olmsted Brothers. The subdivision was designed and marketed as the ideal trolley suburb with modest, affordable homes, with street cars providing easy access to the urban amenities of San Francisco and the intellectual hub of Berkeley. Promotional material of the day emphasized the short 36 minute commute from the Highlands to the bustling Market Street across the bay: "No air service of the future can shorten this distance between your office and your home."

In 1926 Leimert built a grand bridge that crossed the deep Sausal Creek, providing automobile and street car access to the hard-to-reach areas of the Oakland hills, paving the way for development of Oakmore Highlands. At the time the bridge, Leimert claimed, was the longest single arch concrete bridge "in this part of the world." The street that crosses the bridge is now known as Leimert Boulevard.

By this time Walter H. Leimert had moved his family and base operations to Los Angeles, and had begun developing projects in the southland. After developing Bellhurst Park in Glendale, Leimert saw potential in the areas east of the L.A. River, speculating that the planned building of six major bridges would provide access between the rapidly over-crowding Westside and the untapped frontierland of the Eastside. In an advertorial piece for the L.A. Times, titled "City Swings East," published October 6, 1923, Leimert explained why the time was right for Angelenos to expand eastward and, more specifically, move to his latest development -- City Terrace:

Why did Los Angeles start growing southward and westward from the original business center instead of going equally northward and eastward? [...] The answer is the LOS ANGELES RIVER. To the north and east, lay a river, flanked with grade railway crossings and ards spanned only by bridges which have always been too narrow, always too rickety, always too short to reach from hill to hill. To the south and west there was no river and no tracks [...]

With one stroke the voters of Los Angeles have WIPED OUT the barrier to the north and east. Bonds are voted to build, not one, but SIX viaducts--giant structures of steel and concrete, wide enough for all traffic, long enough to reach clear to the hills on the east, with easy approaches from the business center. The city has voted $2,000,000 in bonds for these viaducts.

Leimert, as the self-appointed "recognized expert on city development," assured potential buyers that "while development stood still out to the eastward, PRICES ALSO STOOD STILL. You can buy now at 1914 prices."

How You Can 'Live in the Park'

In 1927, in one of the biggest land transfers in Los Angeles at the time, Walter H. Leimert purchased 231 acres of land from Clara Baldwin Stocker, the daughter of the colorful land baron Elias "Lucky" Baldwin. The purchase was made after Leimert had surveyed the area and found that "only twenty-six vacant homes were found in more than eighty square blocks." This property, part of Baldwin's Rancho La Cienega -- once one of the most profitable dairy farms of the region -- was bounded by Santa Barbara Avenue (later Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) to the north, Arlington Avenue to the east, Vernon Avenue to the south, and Angeles Mesa Drive (later Crenshaw Boulevard) to the west. This became the blank canvas onto which Leimert would paint his vision for the perfect planned community.

Leimert once again teamed with the Olmsted Brothers for the layout of his latest subdivision. The "beautifully designed" Leimert Park was touted as being at the intersection of five major boulevards, and "square in the path of Los Angeles' march westward to the sea" -- somewhat of a self-inflicted blow to his prior hopes for City Terrace and his prediction for eastward expansion of the city. In fact, Leimert was so confident with this new westside development that for the first time in his career, he lent his own name to the subdivision. Expressing his excitement in an advertorial piece in the L.A. Times, "An Open Letter to the Public of Los Angeles," he wrote:

I have, now, for the first time, permitted my name to be applied to a subdivision. I do so because I am 100% convinced that the 230 acres I have purchased [...] present a magnificent opportunity for the creation of a very beautiful and highly successful residential and business development.

In another advertisement, the Leimert Company provided a list of 14 reasons "Why Leimert Park is the Best Place in All Los Angeles For Your Future Home." These included:

Yellow Carline, 5c Fare

Solid Concrete Streets

Shade Trees

Fine Schools

Excellent Protective Restrictions

In his "Open Letter," Leimert described in detail what these "restrictions" entailed:

I am bringing to Los Angeles the Community Association Plan of protective restrictions -- new here, but well established throughout the Lakeshore Highlands property in Oakland and Piedmont where, largely due to the fine restrictions, values have increased 400% to 500% over original prices. By this plan of restrictions the control of the property comes into the hands of the property owners themselves when the subdivider steps out; and they can and do maintain the beautiful appearance of the property, both from an architectural and a landscaping point of view, FOR ALL TIME.

More often than not, such restrictions resulted in segregated neighborhoods, whether or not that had been the intended effect. In his book "The Shifting Grounds of Race," Scott Kurashige, referring to developments like Leimert Park, says that "in their quest to maintain community standards, the new and massive subdivisions proved to be the greatest progenitors of residential segregation." In fact, many subdivisions at the time included restrictions that explicitly barred certain races; for example, during his time in Oakland, Walter H. Leimert had been urged by the Olmsted Brothers "to include East Indians in his racial covenants -- and to add the phrase 'or any other races in the discretion of the Lakeshore Homes Association," according to Robert M. Fogelson in his book, "Bourgeois Nightmares: Suburbia, 1870-1930."

But, as potential home buyers "generally found restrictions to be far more desirable than onerous," according to Kurashige, such restrictions were just one of many selling points of Leimert Park. The Leimert Company began a blitz publicity campaign to lure potential buyers to the new development. A series of ads were placed in the local papers, boasting Leimert Park's investment potential, ideal location, and comprehensive amenities, which would include a brand new school and the multi-use Mesa-Vernon "drive-in" market. The road and building construction was meticulously documented in photographs, many featuring an "It" girl actress of the day nonchalantly posing by hard hat workers. Once the tract was ready for sale to the public, a flock of balloon signs and a proto-Googie arrow pointed to its tract office on Vernon Avenue, where a motorcade of luxury cars and hired actors attracted customers.

In 1928 the Leimert Company held the first "Small Homes Exhibition" to show off their model homes, to "show YOU how you can 'Live in the Park'." The types of homes on display included the "Modern Art Home," "Wood-Panelled Home," "the delightful Brick-Veneer home," and "the Story-and-a-Half Home," filled with furniture supplied by the venerable Barker Brothers.

Walter H. Leimert would go on to develop many more of the city's well-regarded subdivisions, including Beverlywood, Beverly Highlands, Cheviot Knolls, and Rancho Malibu. The Leimert Company operates to this day, most recently focusing their developing efforts in Cambria, CA.

For all of his accomplishments, Walter H. Leimert's legacy most recognizably endures in Leimert Park, which may not have the glamour of some of his other, perhaps more profitable, developments. But the neighborhood remains to this day as one of the most unique and attractive in all of the city -- staying true to Leimert's 100% conviction in lending the neighborhood his name.

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Keeping the Musical Spirit of Leimert Park Alivetag:www.kcet.org,2010:/socal/departures//25.641392013-09-04T00:00:40Z2014-01-18T00:17:00ZThe spirit of Leimert Park was alive and well at the annual African Arts & Music Festival.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924

From the Brockman Gallery and legendary jazzmen Billy Higgins and Horace Tapscott, to the Museum in Black and Project Blowed mainstays Jurassic 5 and Busdriver, Leimert Park in the past few decades has had a reputation for its unique art and music scene that has attracted attention from all over the city, as well as the world.

This Labor Day weekend that spirit was alive and well at the annual African Arts & Music Festival, which showcases "a broad spectrum of Black creative works including fine arts, quality crafts, music, dance and other performing and visual arts," according to their website. Held in the parking lot behind the under-renovation Vision Theater, the festival brought a throng of vendors, selling everything from the intricate jazz-inspired quilted tapestries to hand-crafted jewelry and dresses. Perhaps fitting with the theme of "African Arts," imagery of Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie, or Bob Marley for that matter, hung right next to works depicting President Obama, whom some may consider their current-day successor.

Since such works can be found everywhere these days, from the Venice Boardwalk to swap meets everywhere, what stood out at the festival was not the Africa-inspired artworks, but rather the locally-nurtured talent on the musical stage. This year the festival brought such acts as the veteran jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison (founder of a performing arts center in Leimert Park) and, the highlight of the afternoon, young L.A.-bred jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington and his band.

"What's up Leimert!" Knowing the history of the man behind the name, it might strike as odd to hear Washington cheer for the Oakland-born German American developer, though these days it has become synonymous with the neighborhood known for its African-American arts and culture. Washington and his band, which included bass virtuoso Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner, enraptured the crowd with their blend of old school spiritual jazz and modern electronic squelches. Each time Washington took on a solo, elderly ladies cheered him on as their own son.

Though it was just a slice of what Leimert Park is all about these days, the festival gave a sense of the unique energy and camaraderie that exists in the community.

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What the Community Says: Leimert Parktag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures//25.625592013-08-06T21:00:11Z2014-01-24T00:02:58ZWe asked our readers to submit their stories and memories of Leimert Park -- let's hear what they have to say.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924
As part of our exploration of Leimert Park, we asked our readers to submit their stories and memories of the neighborhood and its surrounding areas. These first hand accounts will help us tell the story of a neighborhood born in the 1920s as a planned community designed by the Olmsted Brothers, and for the past several decades has been considered a hub of African American arts and culture.

You can help shape our narrative by sharing your stories, like the ones seen below, that tell your personal experiences in the area, provide insight, or define "the best" of Leimert Park. We'd love to hear from you!

Now let's hear what the community has to say:

Trevor says:

You can't forget the jazz era in Leimert Park that started in the 80's when Carl Burnett (famed drummer with Freddie Hubbard) opened Artworks 4 artist gallery. It was followed by The World Stage, then 5th Street Dick's. Lots of great culture was inspired during this period. Many African American artists made Leimert Park their home as a result.

S-Dub says:

KAOS Network. In the mid to late '90s this spot hosted Project Blowed open-mic on Thursday nights -- the go-to place to hear freestyle hip hop, from local underground artists to up and coming neighborhoods kids, and everyone in between. Local kids and adults alike who were apart of hip hop culture gathered here; newbies honed their craft, and seasoned vets debuted new material. Aceyalone even made a song about it. But it wasn't just hip-hop, there was spoken word, dancing, etc. There was even a free Capoiera class here back then. Local dancers attended the classes to learn new moves, neighborhood kids attended just to have something to do. I was immersed in hip hop culture back then, and this place became sort of a refuge for me. My grandmother died in 94, the year I graduated high school. All of the programming at KAOS allayed my pain at the time. I didn't even know Ben Caldwell at the time, but this guy probably saved more kids lives who grew up in this area than anyone. Peace and blessings!

Dale Fielder says:

The Dale Fielder Quintet was the first band to perform at Richard Fulton's 5th Street Dick's. We walked in during the summer of 1992 and talked to Mr. Fulton, and he agreed to start us off at $125 per night + tips. Of course over the years the money picked up. We worked every Friday & Saturday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. During 1993, the place quickly gained attention as people flocked there. Those days we played to packed audiences and an after hours slot opened up when we began to alternate with the late guitarist Ronald Muldrow's group. Friday we would play the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. slot and Ronald would do the 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. after hours. Saturdays we would reverse.

A real serious jazz scene opened up because of 5th Street Dick's as the after-hours session became the place to be Friday and Saturday nights. National jazz artists performing elsewhere in L.A., after their gigs, made their way to 5th Street Dick's to jam. I've had Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Wynton, Branford and Delfeyo Marsalis, and countless others joining us. Plus the jazz writers were there, some from as far away as Sweden, who heard about what we were laying down at Dick's. We played non-stop from 1992 until 2000, when Richard Fulton passed away. It was a true labor of love and an experience everyone will never forget.

Rhonda Cobb says:

My family moved to Leimert Park in the mid or late '60s. I have been a part of the culture and arts and businesses since the days of 5th Street Dick's and The Museum in Black. I have stories.

Damaris Bernard says:

My experience in Leimert Park has been life changing! I started in 1998 doing volunteer work for the children of this community with other parents and neighborhood leaders concerned with the widening gap of access to quality arts, music, and science programs available to our youth. My husband Dennis Smith and I, with the support of Ben Caldwell of KAOS NETWORK, founded KIDZ @ 43RD PLACE, a program where parents and other people come and share their talents with children in the community free of charge. We offer acting, art, music, dance, yoga, martial arts, TV production workshops, photography, puppet and mask making, poetry, and just about any other creative workshops that you could imagine!

The youth ensemble of KIDZ @ 43RD PLACE are invited on a regular basis to perform in many venues around the city, which gives the children the opportunity to express their talents in front of live audiences, and to encourage others to follow their example and challenge themselves to represent the highest of what their own communities have to offer.

Leimert Park is a rich, vibrant and diverse community overflowing with creative people dedicated to art, music, intellectual and spiritual discourse and love. It's a place where adults and children from all walks of life come to share, learn and experience simultaneously the gifts of our community, which is what the definition of community should be!

Kwaku Person-Lynn says:

Started my first adult class (Afrikan World Civilizations) there at KAOS Studios (Network) owned by Ben Caldwell. Later I started my youth class (Black History 4 Young People) there, which still exists in the summer. Used to go to the Leimert Theater in the 1950s, when the area was predominately a white neighborhood. Lived down the street from the theater for seven years. Have seen the area change over the years.

Nichelle Monroe says:

Historic Leimert Park is now being dismantled by new property owners to want to re-gentrify the area, by kicking out present business-owner tenants. Among the new businesses on Degnan Street, the heart of the artist district, in Leimert Park, will be a gun store.

Tenants of the stores on Degnan Street have made numerous attempts to contact the new owners to make rental agreements. The new owners are unidentifiable and incognito. They have hidden themselves with in LLC companies. They refuse to make contact with the tenants. This seems like a diabolical attempt to push the store owners out of the area.

Truly, positive changes need to take place to cure a stagnant energy in Leimert Park. However, most of the residents and business owners fear that things will change in a negative way, especially since a gun store will possibly open on Degnan. The LAST thing this area needs, is just that sort of business. A GUN store? Really?

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Mike 'The Poet' Sonksen Honored for Distinguished Service in Poetrytag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.620242013-07-18T17:17:15Z2013-10-31T09:39:56ZThe venerable Venice poetry institution Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center held its annual Awards Dinner on July 14, honoring two individuals who have made significant contributions to the world of poetry in Los Angeles. This year the George Drury Smith...Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=2924
The venerable Venice poetry institution Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center held its annual Awards Dinner on July 14, honoring two individuals who have made significant contributions to the world of poetry in Los Angeles.

This year the George Drury Smith Award, which "honors an outstanding achievement in poetry by a poet whose work has drawn attention to the art of poetry beyond the borders of Los Angeles," was given to L.A.'s first poet laureate, Eloise Klein Healy.

The Distinguished Service Award, which honors "a local poet who has made long-term contributions to the poetry community in Los Angeles," was given to none other than Mike "The Poet" Sonksen, who is featured weekly on KCET Departures in his column, L.A. Letters.

The Beyond Baroque Awards Dinner began in 2011 "as a way to honor poets in the Los Angeles poetry community who have shined a light on the craft of poetry, both through their writing and through their efforts to draw attention to poetry as an art form," according to the Beyond Baroque website.

Be sure to check out Sonksen's writings about literature and poetry in Los Angeles and beyond in his column L.A. Letters.

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Exploring the San Gabriel River to the Bridge to Nowheretag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures//25.609892013-07-03T22:00:14Z2014-10-22T23:31:24ZFollowing our exploration of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, it was now time for us to conquer the hilly and windy paths along the East Fork of the river, otherwise known Bridge to Nowhere hike.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924
Following our exploration of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, it was now time for us to conquer the hilly and windy paths along the East Fork of the river, otherwise known as the Bridge to Nowhere hike. At around 9 miles round trip, with numerous river crossings and a bit of an uphill climb once you near the bridge, it is quite a trek for the novice hiker.

The Bridge to Nowhere isn't just a metaphor for failed plans; there actually is a bridge at the end of the trail that literally goes nowhere. The path of the trail, which roughly follows the path of the river, was originally to be the route of the East Fork Road, a highway that would have extended all the way to the Angeles Crest near Wrightwood. Work on the East Fork Road began in 1929, and the bridge was completed in 1936. But the devastating floods of 1938 -- which swelled up the L.A. River as well -- put an end to the plan, as the few miles of paved roads were washed away by the destructive powers of the fast-flowing water. Additional plans were made in the 1950s and the 1960s to once again bring a road to the mountanous terrain -- called Shoemaker Canyon Road -- but was only partially completed, giving it the nickname "The Road to Nowhere."

But the bridge survives, now a popular destination for adventurous hikers as well as bungee jumpers, who can experience a free fall from the historic bridge courtesy of Bungee America.

For this hike we were once again joined by Annette Kondo from the Wilderness Society, who gave us insight on some of the goings on in the mountains, as she had done during our trip to the West Fork.

We also extended an invitation to the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders, a nonprofit volunteer organization that maintains and extends the hiking trails in the San Gabriel Mountains. They are responsible for the hard work that goes in to maintaining functional trails on both the East and West forks of the river and beyond. They weren't able to join us this time, but they did offer some helpful thoughts over the phone prior to the hike.

A newly-installed map marked the start of the trail, which begins a few miles north of Azusa. Native wildflowers and succulents lined the trail, with many yucca flowers towering over our heads.

Some sections of the trail required crossing the riverbed. Most of the crossings were made easier by log bridges and strategically placed rocks that allowed us to keep our shoes dry. But for some points we were on own -- there were no dry crossings, and only the low water level during the summer seasons prevented us from getting soaked waist high, instead of just ankle deep.

It wasn't all natural landscape however, as glimpses of man-made structures reminded us that we were still in close proximity to urban civilization. Remnants of the partially built East Fork Road were still visible in some sections of the trail, including concrete walls and supports for what seemed like elevated roads across the river, and fragments of cement roads. A recently-built John Seales Bridge, the work of the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders, helped us cross the wide gap of the Laurel Gulch.

Back in the Gold Rush days of the late 1800s, the East Fork of the San Gabriel River was a hotbed of prospecting and panning. Even today it remains a popular location for those who dream of wealth, or perhaps of a simpler time when wealth could potentially be simply gleaned from nature. We came across a man who claimed he found a speck of gold -- though it was hard to see in the bright light.

Interestingly, the area around the actual Bridge to Nowhere is privately owned. On this private property sits several structures that house the equipment for Bungee America, the official bungee operator at the bridge. Looking down from the bridge, we realized how high we had climbed -- high enough to induce vertigo.

The only thing on our minds on the way back for our dehydrated and exhausted selves was to return to the trailhead and replenish ourselves. But we were still clear-headed enough to notice the long-necked rock pattern on Swan Rock, and smart enough to find a pool formed by the river -- an oasis in the middle of the dry heat that we all eagerly jumped in. From there it wasn't long until we arrived back to the beginning, where Annette had a little gift for us -- an ice chest full of water and electrolyte-infused drinks. We were then all brought back to life, and reflected on how this amazing natural resource is right in our own back yards.

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Sunnynook River Park Opens Along the L.A. Rivertag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/lariver/confluence//1860.610322013-06-20T20:00:58Z2013-11-20T19:03:16ZThe new park joins several other parks and parklets that have opened along the river in recent years.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1860&id=2924
This month has been good for parks in L.A. Following the opening of the brand new Nature Gardens at Natural History Museum and Spring Street Park, and the re-opening of Echo Park Lake, Angelenos have another new public space to perhaps make other cities green with envy.

This morning Sunnynook River Park was unveiled to the public. Situated between two pedestrian bridges that connect the river to Griffith Park and Atwater Village, across the 5 Freeway and the L.A. River, the new park joins several other parks and parklets that have opened along the river in recent years, including Glendale Narrows Riverwalk, Steelhead Park, Egret Park, Rattlesnake Park, Marsh Park, and Rio de Los Angeles State Park.

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The $1.7 million Sunnynook River Park, which had been approved by the city in 2008 and broke ground in 2012, was financed by Caltrans and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and developed on a three-acre parcel that had been "orphaned and abandoned," according to City Engineer Gary Lee Moore, who spoke at the dedication ceremony. With the creation of the park, over 50 new native trees were planted, and over 100 trees were kept in tact. "But we did get rid of all the weeds and the poison oak," Moore said.

The ribbon-cutting was attended by many community members and long-time River advocates, including Councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Ed Reyes, and Friend of the L.A. RiverLewis MacAdams, whose work on the river was honored in the form of the park's walkway: Lewis MacAdams Riverwalk.

"This is a great honor and something that I'm incredibly embarrassed about," said MacAdams. "But I am excited to accept in the name of the people that are gathered here, in the name of the carp, in the name of the great blue herons, in the name of the osprey, and in the name of everybody in this beautiful new park created by the city."

The entire length of the L.A. River should be functionally built out with a bike path by 2020, according to Michelle Mowery from Los Angeles Department of Transportation. When that happens, this park will be a welcome spot for a short break for a cyclist traversing all the way from the Valley to Long Beach.

Councilmember-elect Mitch O'Farrell, who has been a long-time advocate for the revitalization of the river, was excited to complete one piece of the puzzle that is the L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan. "The future is bright for the river ... [but] this is only the beginning of something wonderful for Atwater Village, for Silver Lake, and the whole city of Los Angeles."

The new plaque for the Lewis MacAdams Riverwalk reads:

At the center of itself
the river is silence.

The river park's location adjacent to the thunderous freeway makes it far from silent, but for MacAdams, the new park is "a symbol of people's reawakening sense of place, where they are and where they live -- and that's alongside the L.A. River."

Photos: Yosuke Kitazawa and Rubi Fregoso/KCET Departures

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Get Your Feet Wet: L.A. River is Now Open for Recreationtag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/lariver/confluence//1860.599872013-05-28T19:23:58Z2013-12-12T01:19:51ZThe natural-bottomed Glendale Narrows section of the river, between Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road, is now open for recreation until Labor Day.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1860&id=2924
For many Angelenos, this year's Memorial Day turned out to be more than just the unofficial first day of the summer -- it was the beginning of a new era. The Los Angeles River, whose concrete channelization in the 1930s created a web of bureaucracy that largely prevented the public from legally entering the river, began its official Pilot Recreation program on this holiday. The natural-bottomed Glendale Narrows section of the river, between Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road, is now open for recreation until Labor Day.

While a crosstown rivalry was brewing up at Chavez Ravine in Elysian Park, down the hill in Elysian Valley it was all about communities coming together. At Marsh Park, near the north end of the Recreation Zone, city officials, like city councilman-elect Mitch O'Farrell, and long time L.A. River stakeholders, like Lewis MacAdams of Friends of the L.A. River, were seen mingling with those eager to get their feet wet.

Here are views of some of the day's excitement, from kayakers and fishers, to those just enjoying the narrow strip of nature that will hopefully soon be open year-round, and become a sense of pride for all Angelenos. For more information, visit the L.A. River Pilot Recreation Zone website.

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Elysian Valley Community Comes Out for L.A. River Bike and Walk Eventtag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/nela//2236.589112013-04-29T18:42:07Z2013-11-21T22:52:48ZMarsh Park, located near the north edge of the neighborhood, came alive last Saturday with an event that brought the community together.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=2924The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information visit www.mylariver.org

KCET Departures is the media partner of the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative.

Between the thundering roar of the 5 freeway and the serene Los Angeles River lies the neighborhood of Elysian Valley. Home to roughly 8,000 residents, this community has the distinction of having the L.A. River as its own backyard and playground. This section of the river is known as Glendale Narrows, one of the few natural, soft bottomed sections of the river, and home to many species of ducks, mallards, and herons. The L.A. River Greenway Trail, part of the National Recreation Trails program, runs along the winding eastern edge of the neighborhood, dotted with pocket parks.

Marsh Park, located near the north edge of the neighborhood, came alive last Saturday with an event that brought the community together. Hosted by the Northeast L.A. Riverfront Collaborative, the event attracted local residents, bikers, walkers, visitors, curious onlookers, and community organizations, with a bike ride and a walk, educational activities related to the L.A. River, a bike-powered music station, local food vendors, and more, culminating with a free outdoor screening of the cult-favorite "Beetlejuice," with the river serving as backdrop.

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KCET Departures was there with the StoryShare video crew, capturing the memories and stories of the L.A. River, along with responses to questions on what the L.A. River could be. The videos will be available for viewing in the upcoming weeks.

For now, here are some photos to give you an idea of the great energy that flowed through the park. Stay tuned for more events like this along the L.A. River in Northeast Los Angeles.

Photos by Yosuke Kitazawa and Justin Cram

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What the Community Says: San Gabriel Rivertag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures//25.583552013-04-05T00:00:38Z2013-11-08T23:35:53ZWe hear from the community their stories and memories of the San Gabriel River.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924

As part of our exploration of the San Gabriel River, we asked our readers to submit their stories and memories of the river and its surrounding areas. These first hand accounts will help us tell the story of the 61-mile thread of nature that stretches from the Angeles National Forest in Azusa, all the way down to its mouth in Seal Beach in Orange County.

You can help shape our narrative by sharing your stories, like the ones seen below, that tell your personal experiences in the area, provide insight, or define "the best" of the San Gabriel River. We'd love to hear from you!

Now let's hear what the community has to say:

Kerry Chicoine says:
"A few years ago a friend and I -- on a lark -- decided to go fly fishing on the San Gabriel River just north of Azusa. Most of us fly fishermen usually went much higher in the range to more remote creeks, so we didn't have much hope for this lower stretch so close to the city.

Turns out we discovered an amazing resource -- wild trout, possibly of steelhead origin. We kept a solitary fish (out of many caught and released) and sent a fin clipping to a friend who worked for the Department of Fish and Game. They, too, surmised we might have "discovered" a remnant steelhead population.

The crux of the story is this river -- here above Azuza, graffiti-strewn and crawling with party people all summer long -- is indeed wild and capable of hosting what appears to be a thriving ecosystem. Some of the fish we caught there were in the 18-inch range, which is spectacularly huge compared to most fish in the smaller watersheds of the San Gabriels."

Wesley Reutimann says:

"The San Gabriel River provides a wonderful backdrop to some of the most scenic and safe bicycling in Los Angeles County. A separated bike path traverses almost its entirety from the dams of San Gabriel Canyon to Seal/Long Beach. As a young teen, just completing the ride from El Monte to the beach was a challenge and adventure in of itself. Twenty years later the path provides a welcome respite to our congested, and too often dangerous, city streets. It also provides access to the head of the canyon and Highway 39, the gateway to famously challenging climbs to the high points of the rivers watershed, such as the roads to Cogswell Dam, Crystal Lake, and Glendora Ridge Road. Rides along these roads are among my, and friends of mine, most cherished memories."

Bill Meredith says:

"That was my relaxation. To fish the west fork of the San Gabriel River. I did not have to walk far from the bridge and parking lot. I would finish work early, go home get my fishing gear, go to the river and be home with some nice trout for dinner. Thank you for telling the wonderful story of a great little river."

Dennis Pruitt says:

"When I was a teenager back in the late '70s we used to go cliff diving at a spot just up the road from the Canyon Inn. It was a real thrill because you couldn't see the river from the top of "CZ" rock, you had to run a few steps and leap out and away from the rock, only to see the water once you were airborn. It was better than any thrill ride at any amusement park."

Patrizzi says:

"When I was a nine year old Girl Scout we camped in tents by the San Gabriel River. We swam in beautiful clear water and it was icy cold in June. Snakes swam with us but we learned they weren't poisonous because of the rhyme: red and yellow, kill a fellow, red and black, your friend Jack."

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Exploring the San Gabriel River's West Forktag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures//25.577692013-03-27T00:30:05Z2014-01-22T18:08:49ZLast week the Departures production crew headed out on a little field trip eastward to Azusa at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=25&id=2924
Last week the Departures production crew headed out on a little field trip eastward to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in Azusa. As an introduction to our exploration of the San Gabriel River, we were on a mission to find out as much as we could by experiencing it firsthand.

Up windy roads through the Angeles National Forest -- where packs of cyclists made their way up the dedicated bike path -- we found our way to the former El Encanto Restaurant, now home to the Azusa River Wilderness Park. There we met with two experts who would guide us through our introduction to the San Gabriel River: Fabiola Lao from the Sierra Club, and Annette Kondo from the Wilderness Society. As part of the San Gabriel Mountains Forever coalition, they work to preserve the natural habitats of what is one of the largest green spaces in Southern California, while extending its purposes for recreational use.

We began at the Hilda L. Solis Outlook, named after the former State Senator, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Secretary of Labor, whose advocacy for environmental justice has been crucial in the preservation of the San Gabriel Mountains.

After a short drive uphill past Morris Dam, an area set aside for off-roading, and the San Gabriel Dam, we arrived at the mouth of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. From there, a tranquil 6.2-mile paved trail leads to Cogswell Dam and an adjacent campground, where one can enjoy a secluded piece of nature, only a few miles from the stress of city life.

Unfortunately, that proximity also means that it doesn't take much for urban nuisance to make its way up to the mountains. Many of the rocks at the entrance to the East Fork trail were covered in graffiti, surrounded by empty plastic bags and discarded food wrappings -- which will all eventually find their way to the ocean.

Wildflower season is upon us, and we spotted a few varieties of native flora along the route.

As Woodsy Owl reminded us to keep our forest clean, we carefully climbed down a slight hill past some poison ivy towards the riverbed. To our surprise, we came upon a small waterfall, which is a rare sight in the usually dry spring season, as Annette reminded us.

We couldn't make it to the end of the West Fork due to time constraints (and a little bit of fatigue...), but we got a great sense of what the San Gabriel River is all about, from its history as essentially the birthplace of Los Angeles, to its preservation concerns related to the Wilderness Act, and finally the struggles to maintain its recreational use. Next time we will head out to the East Fork of the river -- and we hope to get somewhere by reaching the Bridge to Nowhere.

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NELA River Collaborative Kicks Off, Begins Community Engagementtag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/lariver/confluence//1860.565122013-02-20T00:30:10Z2013-11-20T19:29:52ZLocal residents, students, conservationists, and city workers all gathered to show their support for the future of the L.A. River.Yosuke Kitazawahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1860&id=2924The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information on the collaborative visit www.mylariver.org

The event was held at Marsh Park in Elysian Valley, where single family homes, industrial structures, and pocket parks share the only neighborhood that directly abuts the Los Angeles River. Curious local residents, conservationists, and city officials, as well as students from nearby schools who took a field trip to the event as part of our Youth Voices media literacy program, all gathered at the small but well-maintained park to show their support for the potential and future of the river.

"We have this wonderful effort that is transforming this corridor," said CD1 Councilmember Ed P. Reyes who, as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the L.A. River, has been a strong supporter of the river. He will soon see a river-adjacent park named in his honor.

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"This [project] allows us to provide the community to define itself," continued Reyes. "And that's what we've been doing for the last 12 years -- through the L.A. River Master Plan, through the various efforts of parks and services, Santa Monica Conservancy -- it's been the community that's been driving this."

The Northeast L.A. Riverfront Collaborative is a holistic, collaborative urban planning effort that will take advantage of the River as an economic development asset. The collaborative takes up the mantle left behind when the state's Community Redevelopment Agencies were dissolved last year, but with added emphasis on inter-agency cooperation and community-based approaches.

CD4 Councilmember Tom LaBonge added his words of wisdom, mentioning the two things one should need in life: "Water and relationships -- water to nourish your body, to grow your food, to clean your mind. And relationships to give you the real feeling of being human, of being about something. And that's what this is all about - the relationship to this river."

As part of the collaborative, KCET Departures has the task of using multimedia to engage the NELA communities, which include the neighborhoods of Atwater Village, Elysian Valley, Glassell Park, Cypress Park, and Lincoln Heights.

For our first phase, we decided to approach this with a rather old-school method: a three-sided physical kiosk on which locals can write their responses to the simple prompt, "I Want My L.A. River to be..." So far the kiosk has traveled to the Cypress Park Library, Atwater Village Farmers Market, and Atwater Crossing. After a brief appearance at the kick-off event, it now resides at the Lincoln Heights library.

The responses range from the sincere to the humorous: "A place where families come together and celebrate one of the landmarks of our city," or "More like Jurassic Park!" You can submit your own response, as well as take a look at what we have gathered so far, by visiting mylariver.org.

At the kick-off event, members of the community were invited to share their thoughts on the L.A. River. Local residents, city workers, and students from the Youth Voices media literacy program all had unique perspectives on how they see the river in the future. Below you can see a slideshow of some of the responses we collected at the event.

Stay tuned for updates on the NELA Riverfront Collaborative as well as on L.A. River-related events in which you can participate and be a part of the future of the river.